Classic Vacations Italy Study Tour: November 29 December 06-2016
Tuesday, November 29 TBA Arrival day. Your dedicated driver will meet you outside the baggage claims with a sign. Depending on arrival time site inspection and dinner (Hotel accommodations: Hotel de Russie, 3 nts)
Wednesday November 30 8:00 am 1:00 pm Site inspection with lunch 3:00 pm 7:00 pm Imperial Rome Tour Colosseum, Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon. Start your tour with a visit to Piazza Esquilino, Piazza Venezia and Rome's historical center with "the Vittoriano", the altar dedicated to King Vittorio Emanuele II in 1911. See Capitol Hill, Capitol Square and the adjacent Palatine Hill, where the enormous Temple of Jupiter was built, making it the holiest part of the city. Visit the Roman Forum, once the ancient center of commerce and politics and later becoming an area sacred to the memory of the origins of Rome and sites of public ceremonies. See the temple of Julius Caesar, the Arc of Titus and the Holy Road. Continue on for an inside visit of the mighty Colosseum, inaugurated by Emperor Vespasiano's son with a festival of 100 days to amuse the Romans with fantastic spectacles of gladiators in bloody combat with wild animals. Admire The Pantheon and Trevi Fountain.
Thursday, December 01 8:00 am 2:00 pm Vatican Tour - Sistine Chapel Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state with one of the centuries by the Popes who resided here. In the Museum, visit the Galleries of Candelabras, Tapestry and Geographical Maps, and get a glimpse of the Pope's exquisite gardens. In the Sistine Chapel, discover its history and how it still used today as the Conclave for Papal Elections. Admire the frescoes painted by Michelangelo on the Chapel ceiling and wall behind the altar, depicting scenes from the Old Testament such as the Creation and the Last Judgment. Last stop is St. Peter's Basilica, the largest Church in the world and home to Michelangelo's "Pieta", as well as the burial site of many past Popes. 2:00 pm 6:00 pm lunch and site inspections
ROME FLORENCE Friday, December 02 Sunday, December 04
Friday, December 2 Tba Tba 12:00 pm 2:00 pm 7:00 pm Departure transfer hotel Rome Termini Railway station One way transfer from your hotel in Florence to Florence Santa Maria Novella Rail Station Arrival transfer Florence SMN Hotel One way transfer from Florence Santa Maria Novella Rail Station to your hotel in Florence (Hotel Savoy, 2 nts). Driver will meet you at the front of the platform with a sign. Lunch at the hotel Walking Florence Tour and Uffizi See the beautiful exterior Franciscan Church of Santa Croce and visit the Piazzale della Signoria. Explore the Uffizi Gallery, one of the most famous museums of paintings and sculpture in the world. Its collection of Primitive and Renaissance paintings comprises seceral universally acclaimed masterpieces of all Time, including works by Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Filippo Lippi, Leonardo da Vinci and more.
Saturday, December 03 8:30 am 1:30 pm Accademia Gallery See the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore and the cathedral complex, Giotto's Bell Tower, and the Baptistry with its famous bronze doors. Visit the Accademia Gallery, the most visited gallery that features the famous Michelangelo's David. View the four unfinished Prisoners and St. Matthew and a collection of Gothic and Renaissance paintings that were once in the Medici collections. 2:00 pm tba Lunch + Site inspections
FLORENCE VENICE Sunday, December 04 Tuesday, December 06
Sunday, December 4 Tba Transfer hotel Florence SMN Railway station One way transfer from your hotel in Florence to Florence Santa Maria Novella Rail Station Tba Afternoon Transfer from Venice Railway station hotel. One way private transfer from Venice Santa Lucia Rail Station to your hotel in Venice (Baglioni Hotel Luna, 2 nts) by water taxi. An escort will meet you at the front of the platform with a sign. Site inspection
Monday, December 5 9:00 am 11:30 am Walking Tour and Gondola Ride Walk through the wonderful city of Venice with an expert guide. Begin in world-famous San Marco's Square and receive a short historical and artistic introduction of Venice. Visit famous and historical buildings like the "Golden Basilica" and the Doge's Palace, which served as the senate house, administrative center, hall of justice, public archive and prison up until the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797. See the beautiful Bridge of Sighs with its impressive white limestone architecture that joins the old prisons to the interrogation rooms of the Doge's Palace. Next, step on board your private gondola and ride along the inner canals and the Grand Canal. 12:00 pm afternoon Lunch and Site inspections
Tuesday, December 06 TBA Departure transfer from hotel Venice airport. One way private transfer from your hotel in Venice to Venice Marco Polo Airport by water taxi. At Venice airport, your dedicated chauffeur will welcome you and take to terminal.